A 19-year-old pregnant woman who was struck and killed by a freight train while posing for photos on a set of train tracks in eastern Texas last week was an aspiring model, trying to build up her portfolio, her family and authorities said.
Fredzania “Zanie” Thompson had enlisted a friend to take snapshots of her standing at the intersection of two tracks in Navasota last Friday when an oncoming train barreled into her, The Eagle reported Wednesday, citing her family and local police. She had just discovered she was pregnant about two weeks ago, her fiancé Darnell Chatman told the newspaper.
“Zanie had the most beautiful smile,” said Chatman, 25. “I believe she would want everyone to know what a kind and caring person she is.”
The photographer was reportedly not injured.
Thompson’s mother Hakamie Stevenson told The Eagle that her daughter was a stellar athlete in high school but had dreamed of becoming a successful model. “That’s definitely what she wanted to do. It’s what she had started to do the day she was deceased,” Stevenson said. “I’m very hurt about the situation because she was so young, but this is what she wanted. She wanted to become a model,” Stevenson also told ABC 13.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Breaking Down the 2024 Election Calendar
- How Nayib Bukele’s ‘Iron Fist’ Has Transformed El Salvador
- What if Ultra-Processed Foods Aren’t as Bad as You Think?
- How Ukraine Beat Russia in the Battle of the Black Sea
- Long COVID Looks Different in Kids
- How Project 2025 Would Jeopardize Americans’ Health
- What a $129 Frying Pan Says About America’s Eating Habits
- The 32 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2024
Contact us at letters@time.com